TGA Carrying Galician swamp crayfish - female

Originally native to Eastern Europe, the Galician swamp crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus (Astacus leptodactylus) is also known as the European swamp crayfish or narrow-scissor crayfish. This large crayfish species belongs to the noble crayfish family and is now also common in Central Europe. Pontastacus leptodactylus is ideal for keeping in the garden pond, swimming pond or cold aquarium.

Here you buy an egg-bearing adult female, whose young will hatch in May this year. The sexually mature males have a V-shaped forward pointing mating stylus between the front legs, which is absent in females.
Males of the Galician Swamp Crayfish grow to 16 to 18 cm in size, but crayfish of 25 cm body length have also been found. The females remain somewhat smaller. Its brown carapace, often orange eyestalks, antennae, scissor fingers and legs and the often blue-grey eyes are typical, but bluish specimens are also found from time to time

The Galician swamp crayfish keeps the pond clean: it takes care of dead plant parts of pond plants and fallen leaves - and also dead animals, which thus cannot pollute the water. Pontastacus leptodactylus can play a decisive role in maintaining the biological balance in the pond. It is also possible to keep several specimens without any problems in sufficiently large ponds. You can keep the Galician Swamp Crayfish well in the company of fish, but fish sleeping on the bottom will be preyed upon from time to time. Snails and mussels are cracked and eaten by the Galician Swamp Crayfish.

The Galician Swamp Crayfish likes planted garden ponds that are slightly muddy and do not freeze completely through in the winter. If the pond is deep enough, Pontastacus leptodactylus can overwinter in the garden pond. The Galician Swamp Crayfish readily accepts existing burrows and hiding places, preferring to hide in the mud. If the bank is soft, it may dig a living cave.

In the aquarium the Galician swamp crayfish is a welcome guest, even if the keeping is a bit more complex. In winter, like all species native to Europe, the crayfish needs a cold period, and even in summer the water in the aquarium should not rise above 24 °C permanently. In the aquarium the keeping with appropriate cold water shrimps and cold water fish is also very well possible, provided that the fish do not stay on the bottom for a longer period of time. Snails, on the other hand, are eaten preferentially.

In the aquarium with Galician Swamp Crayfish, a layer of foliage is just as obligatory as hiding places and a good structure by roots and stones. The aquarium should hold at least 200 liters. The water values can be neglected here, the Galician Swamp Crayfish gets along very well in soft to very hard water.

The mating season of Pontastacus leptodactylus starts in October and November. As soon as the water temperature has permanently dropped to 10 to 12 °C (in the aquarium, depending on the setup, appropriate cooling is needed), mating takes place. Within 14 days after mating, the females lay their approximately 200 eggs, which they carry until May of the following year. The young crabs that hatch from the eggs remained under their mother's pleon for a small time, but then set out on their own.

In a well-planted garden pond with some foliage at the bottom, some young crayfish will also come through in fish company, but in an aquarium, the small Galician swamp crayfish need plenty of hiding places. Breeding works best in a separate, sufficiently large rearing aqu arium with lots of foliage and perforated bricks.

Galician swamp crayfish in the garden pond eat filamentous algae, autumn leaves, water plants, worms, insect larvae, snails and mussels. In the aquarium, in addition to foliage, a good crayfish food such as NatureHolic Crayfish Feed should be given; in the garden pond, supplemental feeding is not necessarily required.

Note: As a European crayfish, the Galician Swamp Crayfish is not resistant to crayfish plague and therefore must not come into contact with American crayfish species!

Our food recommendation: Freshwater crayfish have a very varied diet in the wild. The Natureholic Crayfish Feed Sticks contain in a biologically balanced form only those ingredients that these crayfish in this or similar form to their natural food spectrum. This naturally supports and promotes moulting, growth and reproduction. Due to their protein content they are ideally suited for omnivorous crayfish of the genera Procambarus, Cambarus, Cambarellus, Astacus and the Cherax crayfish from Australia, which are basically omnivores that like to eat animal as well as vegetable food. The crayfish of the genus Cherax from Papua also like to eat a portion of animal food when they are young, but later they switch mainly to plant food.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.